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Kaushambi district
Kaushambi district ( , ) is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Manjhanpur town is the district headquarters. Kaushambi district is a part of Allahabad Division. History In ancient India it was the capital of the Vatsa Mahajanapada, one of 16 such regions. The Puranas state that Vatsa was named after a king.Pargiter, F.E. (1972) Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, pp.269-70 The Ramayana and the Mahabharata attribute the credit of founding its capital to a Chedi prince or . The Puranas state that after the washing away of Hastinapura by the Ganges, the king , great-great grandson of Janamejaya, abandoned the city and settled in . This is supported by the and the attributed to . Both of them have described the king Udayana as a scion of the family ( ). The Puranas provide a list of ’s successors which ends with king .Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972) Political History of Ancient India, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, p.117-8 Gautama Buddha visited Kaushambi several times during the reign of Udayana on his effort to spread the dharma, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. Udayana was a Buddhist ''upāsaka''. The Chinese translation of the Buddhist canonical text states that the first image of Buddha, curved out of sandalwood was made under the instruction of Udayana. According to the Puranas, the 4 successors of Udayana were Vahināra, DanḍapāṇI, Niramitra and Kṣemaka. Later, Vatsa was annexed by Avanti. Maniprabha, the great-grandson of Pradyota, ruled at Kauśāmbī as a prince of Avanti.8 Ashoka gave importance to Kaushambi and placed a pillar of Ashoka in Kaushambi, which has inscriptions there in Pali. A Jaina derasar was also constructed in Kaushambi. Both the pillar and the temple still exist there and the ruins of Vatsa and its university are still being excavated by archaeologists. Economy In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Kaushambi one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Demographics According to the 2011 census has a population of 1,596,909 , roughly equal to the nation of Guinea-Bissau or the US state of Idaho. This gives it a ranking of 313th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 23.49 %. Kaushambi has a sex ratio of 905 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 63.69 %. Facts Kaushambi is a newly created district out of Allahabad. It consists of major towns such as Chail, Manjhanpur, Bharwari, Sirathu, Karari and Kara. Kaushambi is predominantly Muslim. It is very easy to reach Kaushambi by road; it is approximately 45 km from Allahabad. This site is good for history lovers who have interest in ancient history. Many Kaushambi artifacts are in Allahabad Museum. It has a few excavated sites, including a Pillar of Ashoka with inscriptions in Pali; surrounding the pillar is a historic site of ruins of the Vatsa Mahajanapada and its university. There is a Jain derasar 14 km from Sarai Akil. The soil is very fertile and it is world-famous for the Surkha mango. The Surkha region lies mainly in Allahabad. References External links * Category:Districts of Uttar Pradesh Category:Kaushambi district